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‘FORMULA’ STORE LIMITS RETURN FOR COUNCIL’S APPROVAL
February 27, 2025
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg, California
Date, Date, 20202020
BIG BOX RETAIL, OUTLET MALLS STILL BARRED By Christian Kallen
Photo by Mark Themig
High on the public-interest scale for the upcoming March 3 City Council meeting is the question of “formula stores”—what they are, where they are allowed and where they are to be excluded in Healdsburg’s downtown. Briefly put, a formula store sells a branded line of products with standardized services, menus, decor, uniforms, architecture, signs or other similar features, as if the store is following a formula. If that’s not clear enough, visit the new Faherty’s menswear shop at 326 Healdsburg Ave., half a block off the Plaza. It’s a formula store, with products, look and services found at approximately 60 other stores, coast to coast. Under Healdsburg’s current limits on formula stores, it is permitted. But when its opening was announced, a number of downtown businesses both on the Plaza and on nearby streets launched a “Vote Yes on Local” campaign to expand the exclusion zones to prevent the wider spread of formula stores. The revised ordinance that comes before the council is the result of a sixmonth process that included a neighborhood sign campaign, a city staff report and revisions by the City Council, and finally a Planning Commission hearing last month. Ironically, the council review will take place even as another men’s clothing store that seems to skirt the edges of the formula store definition, Patrick James, opens at 103 Plaza St. That’s directly facing the Plaza on a block that even now bans formula stores. Until recently the location was the home of
PAUSING ON THE BRIDGE Jen ‘Jendala’ Utsch assumes the yoga ‘tree pose’ on a footbridge at Itasca State Park, Minnesota, in 2019.
A 20-year resident of Healdsburg, Utsch died in Tucson on Feb. 19.
Jendala’s Journey Ends at Home CANCER CATCHES UP WITH UNIQUE, INSPIRATIONAL METAL-WORKS ARTIST IN TUCSON By Christian Kallen
As the sky darkened over the Healdsburg Plaza on Sunday night, a large crowd gathered with candles and children, but its purpose was unclear. “May I ask, if I can, what is the purpose of this gathering?” asked a couple visiting from elsewhere in the state. “A much-loved member of the community died a few days ago,” seemed insufficient. It couldn’t quite capture the spirit or impact of Jennifer Utsch, who died early Wednesday morning, Feb. 19, in hospice care in Tucson. There were no photos of her at the Plaza, no signs or mementos, just the words spoken or sung
by the 75 or so people who showed up on short notice to remember Jendala. “The amazing Jendala took her last breath in this world at 1:31 a.m. this morning,” reported Heartizens on Wednesday morning. “You are a force and will live on in the hearts of so many. Thank you for all the joy you brought to this world for all of us still here, I know we will continue to keep Jen’s light alive. Tonight, take some time to look to the stars and we might just see her dancing with the moon.” Spontaneous tributes and appreciation flooded social media. “I will always remember your kindness and that radiant smile,” posted Michelle Schultz. “I will be ready soon to celebrate you, but for now, I rest and recuperate and look to the skies for the brightest star.” Ja n e t C i e l o f t h e
Healdsburg Farmers Market, where Jendala pedaled her custom “Jingle Cart” to show and sell her affirmation chimes, posted aptly on Facebook: “I hope heaven is ready for the incredible Jen.”
‘Jendala’
The name is that of her crafts business, a combination of her name, Jennifer, and “dala,” which is what she called the dangling pieces of metal on which she wrote positive words for meditation, confidence or just plain reminders of what’s valuable. (In Sanskrit it means “piece,” or the petal of a lotus among other translations.) She inscribed by torch a single word on a piece of recycled metal: From Heart to Sunshine to Hope to Share, Family, Friendship, Spirit. Positive expressions of positive energy. That’s Jendala; each one a piece of Jen.
The single-word cards, sometimes etched with simple flowers, suns or other shapes, could be combined into a one-ofa-kind chime—hence the name of the euphonious Jingle Cart, in which she transported and sold her works. Her customers were widespread, not just from a circuit of farmers and crafts markets but via on-line marketing (etsy. com/shop/Jendala) and word of mouth. Over time she herself became known as Jendala, a name that seemed to suit her though many still called her Jen. As she wrote on her website, jendala.com, “My nickname is Jendala, a name that evolved over time as I followed my heart as an artist creating my life.”
One of a Kind
Janet Ciel, the director of the Healdsburg Farmers
➝ Store Limits, 3
TO WHOM GOES THE GOLDEN MAN? PREDICTIONS FOR OSCAR-WINNING FILMS, ACTORS, DIRECTORS AND OTHERS By Jared Rasic
Photo by Mirko Fabian/Pexels
GOLDEN IDOL The familiar statuette known as Oscar
will be handed out on Sunday night to the winners of the 97th Annual Academy Awards.
The time has arrived for the 97th Annual Academy Awards, and we have more options than ever to watch the event. This year, it can be streamed live on Hulu for the first time ever, or watched on TV like our forefathers did before us. Once again, I’ve divided my guesses into what
should win vs. what will win, but with so many of the nominees this year coming from movies I genuinely enjoyed, I’ll be happy no matter who takes home the little bald man.
Actor in a Leading Role Adrien Brody, The Brutalist Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown Colman Domingo, Sing Sing Ralph Fiennes, Conclave Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice Who Will Win: Adrien Brody. His work in The Brutalist is monumental and deserves recognition. Who Should Win: Brody. But if Fiennes or Domingo took it, I’d be so happy. Fiennes does work unlike any we’ve seen from him before, and Domingo is
Market, said they had known each other for over 30 years. “Let’s see, probably I met her in the early 1990s,” Ciel said. “She was a craftsperson at a festival that I was co-running with my ex-husband, the Festival of Art and Wine at Duncans Mills.” At the time, Jen was selling for someone else, “painted light bulbs that were pretty cool,” Ciel remembered. “And then she started cutting out tin cans and making them into little lamps, little hanging lamps. They were really sweet. That was her first craft.” Those crafty years came when Jendala was already in her 30s—she was born in 1969. Prior to that she said she had worked as a sheriff’s deputy in Utah and a firefighter in Arizona. Though it took a while for her to develop the metal works she ➝ Journey Ends, 7
such a gentle and moving artist that it’s impossible not to root for him.
Actor in a Supporting Role Yura Borisov, Anora Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown Guy Pearce, The Brutalist Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice Who Will Win: Culkin. He builds such a jagged-edged, empathic character that it feels like we’re watching a tightrope walker dance over a bonfire. Who Should Win: Culkin. He captures something singular in A Real Pain, but I sure love Borisov in Anora. In many ways it feels like the movie doesn’t even start until he shows up. ➝ Oscar Predictions, 4